Educational card game system and method of use

ABSTRACT

An educational card game, designed primarily for children. A designated deck of cards are broken into several sets, with the respective sets designated on the backs of the cards. The front of the cards has at least one colored symbol. The cards, and therefore symbols on the cards, can be designated as number, letter shape, image or other symbol, depending on what the child is to team from that particular deck of cards. The cards are meant to be played as one of a number of games, so that players can learn while having fun. In one embodiment, a player with a deck of cards attempts to match either the color or symbol of a card atop a “play” pile.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of educational games; andmore specifically, to educational card games.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The task of properly preparing children to begin their educationaljourney can, in this increasingly skills-based and technological world,be a daunting one for parents. Adults often find it difficult to prepareyoung children for kindergarten or assist them in teaming to read. Somecard games have been created to attempt to educate children but so far,the existing card games are unsatisfactory. Small children cannot easilyboth hold typical game cards and manage multiple cards at once, and cansometimes be confused by games that require each player to conceal cardsfrom the other players.

In fact, games that are set up so as to require that the players concealcards from each other can be counter-productive because adults playingthe game cannot, help small children learn. Such games are designed tobe played with emphasis on a competitive dynamic, rather thancooperation, to be workable. However, it is well-known that childrentypically learn best with adult assistance. Children can be frustratedwhen they feel they are not getting help they need, leading to negativefeelings toward both learning and typical educational card games. Inaddition, small children, of around pre-school age, can have difficultyholding onto the cards and keeping track of what is on them. These arenot part of learning, but a distraction from it.

Further, children need to learn multiple things as they enter theireducation. These include, for example, colors, shapes, numbers, lettersof the alphabet and the differences in sounds between the letters. Whatcard games that do exist generally focus on trying to teach a child asingle item, such as colors or numbers. This results in games that onlytry to convey a single item, and can quickly make the games boring andrepetitive.

Card games to teach children reading are particularly limited.Educational games used to teach children reading skills may teachblended sounds of vowels and consonants but rarely use the vowels soundsto complete the connection, showing the children similarities anddifferences between vowels and consonants—for example, “amp”, “ump,”“ant,” and “ent.”

Therefore, there is a need for an improved card game that helps achievethese goals in educating children.

SUMMARY

An interactive educational card game is comprised generally of a set ofcards with a unique mix of symbols and colors.

A typical card has a front side and a back side which both serve afunction in play. The front of the card has a colored symbol and mayhave a secondary symbol used to help reinforce the first symbol. Thehack of the card is labeled as part of a set within the cards.

The amount of cards in each deck can be any number suitable for theparticular educational task of that set. In one embodiment, for examplea card deck of letters has 26 cards because that is the number ofletters in the alphabet (or 52 if small and capitalized versions ofletters are both used and displayed on separate cards). However, othersets will have different numbers of cards, in this letters embodiment,the letters of the cards-are broken down into several sets, hereindenoted by colors, in this embodiment, the 26 letters of the alphabetare broken into five approximately equal sets: red, blue, green, orangeand purple.

in an embodiment, the back of each card is clearly labeled, by color setdesignation which the card is part of. The front of the card has asymbol to be learned that is one of a number of possible colors. As willbe seen in further embodiments, the symbol can be any suitable item forchildren to learn, such as a number, letter, word, shape, or an everydayitem, depending on the theme of that particular deck of cards. Thepresent invention can be designed to have a series of subjects usedaround the time of pre-school or kindergarten to transition childreninto reading.

The breaking down of complex subject matter into manageable color-codedsets makes it easier for children to learn and parents to teach. Asshown by the labeling of the backs of cards, the games played with thecards herein do not depend, or have in part, hiding the cards from otherplayers or strategies based on deception. Because a deck of cards isdivided into smaller named sets by color coded backside, this makes iteasy for game teachers such as parents or teachers to organize and usethem. Unlike other educational card games wherein children must learnthe entire deck at the same time, dividing the subject cards up intosmaller, logical parts helps children learn more quickly because theyonly have to focus on a more limited number of images—five to ten imagesin a number of embodiments—at the same time. They learn these morequickly through speech & repetition.

In one illustrative embodiment of an educational game that can beplayed, cards are drawn from a draw pile. Each player takes apre-determined number of cards (typically 5-7) and lays the cards downface-up. In this figure, a player has selected five cards. Again, theplayers do not hide cards from each other or keep them to themselves.This is unlike most other card games, where one of the primaryobjectives for each player is to hide their cards from other players: anobjective these games cannot function without.

Rather than the whole card deck, the child may only play with a specificsmaller set of cards for more focused learning. By dividing the overallcard set up, children can learn more quickly because a child only has tofocus on the more limited number of cards of the specific smaller set.

With the cards laid out face-up and viewable to all players, this allowsan approach for easy learning and assistance when needed. This is a morerealistic option for teaching small children as they often cannot holdcards. A card teacher is usually present to help guide the child throughthe game, though may be less so as the child advances. The face-up\ andface-toward the learner orientation of the cards makes it easy forchildren to play and easy for parents and caregiver to assist. However,when a child or children gain some familiarity with the particular game,the child or children can guide themselves through the game.

A player lays a card from their set on a play pile 30. This card willhave both a symbol and color. As the card is laid down, the child may beasked to sound out what is on the card to reinforce learning of thesymbol. The next designated player will need to lay down a card that haseither the color or symbol of the previously-played card, or if present,one of a few “wild” cards that can be added.

If a player has no suitable cards, the player draws a card from the drawpile. If the card can be played, it is. If it cannot be played, theplayer keeps it. The game ends when a player plays all their cards.However, the emphasis is on finishing this task—not winning or losing.

In another embodiment, a deck of cards designed to help children learnnumbers is shown. As in the previous embodiment, the cards are brokeninto color-coded sets for convenient organization. When a card isplayed, a colored number is displayed and the player will look for acard with either the same number or color.

Ideally for learning, a player will be asked to repeat the sounds orletters utilized during every turn to assist learning.

As Children play the games, their knowledge and skills generallyincrease through three phases of learning. During the first phase, theytypically need assistance selecting cards to play and discard. A cardteacher often has to guide the children to knowing what the primarysymbol or secondary symbol on a card are. In a second phase, the childor children can play independently with minimal or no guidance. In athird phase, the child or children not only know the cards, but Knowwhen to strategically play a card in a way that causes another player todraw a card

Further, basic shapes such as circles, squares and triangles can besubstituted for numbers or letters, to help a child learn such symbols.Other, more complex shapes such as other polygonal shapes can be addedor substituted to help a child learn those, such as, e.g., a pentagon,hexagon, or octagon, or symbols such as for a musical note.

Also, a number of colors can be specifically taught as well. In anembodiment, a number of objects can be a number of designated colors,and the game played with these. This can be done with common objectssuch as a dog, cat, ball, etc. that can be colored and placed on thecards.

Other embodiments can also be used to help children phonicaliy witheither long vowels, short vowels or both. The front of a typical card 13a can have the vowel itself, a letter combination commonly used with thevowel, a word with the vowel, or both. These embodiments can helpchildren progress through reading phases and teaches how words arebuilt, strengthening spelling skills.

The cards can also be placed in sets, labeled and colored to helpchildren learn blended phonic consonant sounds that appear at thebeginning, end or other places in a word.

The present invention guides card teachers, such as parents, through thegame by order and color, making the game educational, non-competitiveand easy to use. The card sets can be used in combination to teachchildren, in a cumulative manner, a number of things they need to learn.

Further, multiple sets of cards can be used, in combination as a system,to teach children subjects in the order of preschool to elementaryschool subjects in a cumulative fashion, one building upon another. Asan example, subjects can be played and taught in a planned sequence. Agame series can begin with preschool subjects: such as numbers, shapes,Colors, the alphabet, and sounds. A player can transition into morethings like a phonics series, building from short vowels phonics,beginning blended sounds, long vowel sounds, and ending blending sounds,along with their respective word families. Sights and high frequencywords can be added from there, such as colors, shapes, numbers, alphabetuppercase, lowercase letters, alphabet sounds, phonics, days of week,months of years, time, phonics, sight words, etc. Any suitable subjectthat can be symbolized on cards can be taught by altering the cards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an top view of an aspect of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing an embodiment of the invention in use.

FIG. 3 is a top view of another aspect of another embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following detailed description andthe accompanying drawings. The following descriptions are made referringto the figures, wherein like reference number refer to like featuresthroughout this description.

Turning to the figures, and to Tables 1-8 herein as necessary, theinteractive educational card game 10 is comprised generally of a deck ofcards with a unique mix of symbols and colors. Turning to FIGS. 1-3,several embodiments of the card game are provided. Turning specificallyto FIG. 1, a typical card of one embodiment, denoted 12, of theinvention is shown. The card has a front side 13 a and a back side 13 bwhich both serve a function in play. The front of the card has a coloredprimary symbol 14 and may have a secondary symbol 16 used to helpreinforce the first symbol 14. The back of the card 13 a is labeled aspart of a set within the deck of cards 10, in this embodiment.

Turning first to table 1, a deck of educational cards 10 is provided.The amount of cards in each deck can be any number suitable for theparticular educational task of that deck. For example, this card deck 10has 26 cards because that is the number of letters in the alphabet (or52 if small and capitalized versions of letters are both used anddisplayed on separate cards). However, other decks will have differentnumbers of cards. The letters of the cards are broken down into severalsets, herein denoted by colors. In this embodiment, the 26 letters ofthe alphabet are broken into five approximately equal subsets: red,blue, green, orange and purple.

TABLE 1 (Letters) Letter Set Color A-E a-e Red F-J f-j Blue K-P k-pGreen Q-U q-u Orange V-Z v-z Purple

FIG. 1 depicts a sample card of this set. The back of the card 13 b isclearly labeled, by color set designation, which the card is part of.The front of the card has a symbol 14 to be learned that is one of anumber of possible colors. The front of the card 13 a has a symbol 14 tobe learned. As will be seen in further embodiments, the symbol 14 can beany suitable item for children to learn, such as a number, letter, word,shape, or an everyday item, depending on the theme of that particularset of cards 10. The present invention is designed to have a series ofsubjects used around the time of pre-school or kindergarten totransition children into reading.

In this embodiment, the symbol is a capital letter “A.” The letter “A”is part of the red set, as depicted on the back of the card 13 b, thoughthe letter itself can be any color. A secondary symbol 16 is alsopresent in the form of the word “ant” The word is provided as an exampleof something that begins with the letter “A” to reinforce the letter toa child. A picture of the ant is also shown. The secondary symbol 14 orpicture of if need not be present. It is there as an aid tounderstanding the primary symbol 16.

Upper and lower case letters are two distinct sets of letters and forchildren, learning upper and lower case letters can be two distincttasks, as shown in Table 1, a deck can be comprised of cards with bothupper and lower case letters. For ease of learning, the upper and lowercase letters can be separated into two smaller decks for play or evenprovided in two distinct decks. Once a child learns one, the child canthen turn to the other, learning them in more graspable pieces. When thechild has some familiarity with both, they can be combined or recombinedinto a single deck.

and further comprising the step of either playing the upper and lowercase letter cards simultaneously, or dividing the deck into a lower caseletter set and an upper case letter set and playing the sets one at atime.

As shown by the labeling of the backs of cards, the games played withthe cards herein do not depend, or have in part, hiding the cards fromother players or strategies based on deception. Because the deck ofcards 10 are divided into small named groups by color coded backside,this makes it easy for game teachers such as parents or teachers toorganize and use them. Unlike other educational card games whereinchildren must learn the entire deck at the same time, dividing thesubject cards up into smaller, logical parts helps children learn morequickly because they only have to focus on a more limited number ofimages—five to ten images in a number of embodiments—at the same time.They learn these more quickly through speech & repetition.

The cards 10 can be comprised of any suitable material known in the artfor cards, such as a laminated paper or pulp, or resin. Preferably thecards are comprised of waterproof material such as laminate or resin.

Turning to FIG. 2 and Table 2, cards are drawn from a draw pile 20. Eachplayer takes a predetermined number of cards (typically 5-8 and lays thecards down face-up. In this figure, a player has selected five cards.Again, the players do not hide cards from each other or keep them tothemselves. This is unlike most other card games, where one of theprimary objectives for each player is to hide their cards from otherplayers: an objective these games cannot function without.

Rather than the whole card deck 10, the child may only play with aspecific smaller set of cards for more focused learning. By dividing theoverall card deck 10 up, children can learn more quickly because a childonly has to focus on the more limited number of cards of the specificsmaller set. For example, returning to Table 1, the game can be quicklyarranged so that a child is only playing, for example, with red set. The5-10 cards of this more limited set would focus the child specificallyon learning letters A-E.

With the cards laid out face-up and viewable to all players, this allowsan approach for easy learning and assistance when needed. This is a morerealistic option for teaching small children as they often cannot holdcards. A child can play alone, in a two-person game with a card teacher,or with other children. The game overall is typically used as aneducational tool for two players but can be expanded to use as arecreational game for two or more players. A card teacher is usuallypresent to help guide the child through the game, though may be less soas the child advances. The face-up and face-toward the learnerorientation of the cards 10 makes it easy for children to play and easyfor parents and caregiver to assist, unlike games in which cards are tobe hidden from opponent. In this game, that problem is eliminated, andadults may provide immediate help to reduce frustration in children.However, when a child or children gain some familiarity with theparticular game, the child or children can guide themselves through thegame.

A player lays a card from their set on a play pile 30. Because childrenplaying the game only have to draw or discard one card at time, thismakes the games herein mostly hands free for them. This reduces thedifficulty smaller children can have handling cards, decreasingfrustration with the game(s). This card 12 will have both a symbol andcolor. Returning briefly to FIG. 1, if this card were laid down, thecolor may be blue, and the symbol would be “A.” It is helpful if theteacher, as the card is laid down, asks the child to sound out what ison the card to reinforce learning of the symbol 16, “A.” The nextdesignated player (that same child if the game is being played solo, oranother child or the card teacher if it is being played multi-player)will need to lay down a card that has either that color (blue in thisexample), that symbol (“A”) or if chosen, one of a few “wild” cards thatcan be added to increase the variety of the game. For example, thechild, if the child had such a card, could lay down a blue ‘C”(samecolor) or a green “A” (same letter), if a player has no suitable cards,the player draws a card from the draw pile 20. Unlike typical suchgames, in a more competitive mode, in which the player would have todraw cards until one is found that can be played, the player simplydraws the one card. If the card can be played, it is. If it cannot beplayed, the player keeps it. In either event, if there is more than oneplayer, the turn changes and another player now draws. The game endswhen a player plays all their cards. However, the emphasis is onfinishing this task—not winning or losing. Typically, no score is keptfor this reason.

Turning back to Table 2 and returning to FIG. 2, a deck of cards 10designed to help children learn numbers is shown. The cards 10 arebroken into color-coded sets for convenient organization. A “12” card isshown in the play pile 30, and the back of the card would indicate thiscard is part of “Set Green.” If the color on the card is blue, then theplayer can play the “12” card 12 b, or if the number on any other cardis blue, play that one. This continues until all the cards are played.Ideally for learning, the child will be asked to repeat the sounds orletters utilized during every turn to assist learning.

As Children play the games, their knowledge and skills generallyincrease through three phases of learning. During the first phase, theytypically needs assistance selecting cards to play and discard. A cardteacher often has to guide the children to knowing what the primarysymbol 14 or secondary symbol 16 on a card are. In a second phase, thechild or children can play independently with minimal or no guidance. Ina third phase, the child or children not only know the cards, but knowwhen to strategically play a card in a way that causes another player todraw a card

TABLE 2 (Numbers) Number Set Color 1-5 Red  6-10 Blue 11-15 Green 16-20Orange 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, Purple 60, 70, 80, 90, 10  * Note: Purple setallows children to earn to count to 100 by multiples of 10

Turning to Table 3, basic shapes such as circles, squares and trianglescan be substituted for numbers, to help a child learn such symbols.Other, more complex shapes such as other polygonal shapes can be addedor substituted to help a child learn those, such as, e.g., a pentagon,hexagon, or octagon, or symbols such as for a musical note.

TABLE 3 (Shapes) Shape Set Color ▴  ▪ Red ♡ ♦ 

Green

Blue

Orange

Turning to FIG. 4, while the game helps children learn the colorsinvolved in general play, a number of colors can be taught in anembodiment as well. A number of objects can be a number of designatedcolors, and the game played with these. This can be done with objectsshown herein in other embodiments, such as numbers or letters. However,common objects children need to learn to recognize can be substituted aswell. For example, objects such as a dog, cat, ball, etc. can be coloredand placed on the cards. For example, a pink dog (part of Set Blue) cardcan be played, then matched by either another dog card, or with anotherpink object.

TABLE 4 (Colors) Color Set Color Red, Blue, Yellow Red Pink, Green,Black, White Blue Gray, Purple, Orange, Brown Green NOTE: Colors can bein the shape of objects such as Bear, Cat, Car, Ball, Dog, etc.

Turning to Tables 5-6 a deck of cards 10 in other embodiments can alsobe used to help children phonically with either bog vowels, short vowelsor both. The front of a typical card 13 a can have the vowel itself, aletter combination commonly used with the vowel, a word with the vowel,or both. These can be on separate cards, or combined into a single card,as the “A” and “ant” were in the card of FIG. 1.

Turning to FIG. 3, a sample pair of cards 12′, 12 a′ are shown. Thebacks 13 b′, 13 b″ indicate they are part of the same set. The front ofthe cards 13 a′, 13 a″ show the long vowel of “O” in a phoneticcombination “ope” and in the complete word “cope.” A game using thecards of the long vowel deck, short vowel deck or combination can thenbe played as already indicated herein.

This is in keeping with good phonics practice, which tends to begin byintroduction of base sounds, such as “ed,” “eg,” “et,” and “an,” asbuilding blocks from which to learn words that go with those base (e.g.,fed, Meg, net, hen)/ This helps children progress through reading phasesand teaches how words are built, strengthening spelling skills.

TABLE 5 (Phonic Short Vowels) Vowel Set Color a (ad ag am an ap at) Rede (ed eg el er et) Blue i (ib ig it ip ix) Green o (ob og om on op otOrange u (ub ug up un ut) Purple

TABLE 6 (Phonic Long Vowels) Long Vowel Set Color a-e (ay ai ane ape ameate Red ete eve ee) a-o (ade aze ake ase ace Blue ope ote ova one ome)i-u (ike ite ice ide ime Green ube ule use ude) o-e (oke ode ole ow oaOrange each eat ea eat)

Turning to Tables 7-8, the cards can also be placed in sets, labeled andcolored to help children learn blended phonic consonant sounds thatappear at the beginning, end or other places in a word, it isparticularly helpful, in these phonic embodiments, if a card teacher ispresent and can ask the child playing to sound out the symbols on thecards as they are played. A deck of cards 10 used to teach childrenreading skills teaches blended consonant sounds by adding vowel soundsto complete the connection. Turning to FIG. 8, some examples ofvowel-added sounds are illustrated in parentheses. For example, “amp”,“ump,” “ant,” and “ent” are included in the embodiment of FIG. 8.

TABLE 7 (Phonic Blended Sounds) Blended Set Color ch th sh wh sm sn Redsp si sc sk sw st Blue bl cl fl gl pl gl rl Green fr br cr pr dr tr qwOrange

TABLE 8 (Phonic Ended Blended Sounds) Blended Sounds Set Color mp (ampump imp) Red nd (and ond end) nt (ant int unt ent) nk (ank ink unk) Bluest (ist ast ust est) sp (asp isp) sk (ask isk usk esk) Green ft (aft iftuft eft) ch (ich uch atch itch utch etch) Orange sh (ash ish ush) th(ath oth eth ith) Purple ng (ang ing ong ung) lk (ilk ulk) Yellow ar(art arp ard)

The present invention is different from any known educational card gamebecause it guides card teachers, such as parents, through the game byorder and color, making the game educational, non-competitive and easyto use. The card decks 10 can be used in combination to teach children,in a cumulative manner, a number of things they need to learn. Beforechildren can work on worksheets and play card or board games, they needto have knowledge of colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet and sounds tofully absorb what they are learning. The present invention can teach thebasics to allow children as young as two years old to play more advancedgames. Once they learn colors, they progress to learn shapes, numbers,letters, and then sounds and combining sounds to form complete words.The repetitive, yet changeable nature of the game will help instill thematerial that the child/player is learning.

Further, multiple decks of cards 10 can be used, in combination as asystem, to teach children subjects in the order of preschool toelementary school subjects in a cumulative fashion, one building uponanother. As an example, subjects can be played and taught in a plannedsequence. A game series can begin with preschool subjects: such asnumbers, shapes, Colors, the alphabet, and sounds. The player cantransition into more things like a phonics series, building from shortvowels phonics, beginning blended sounds, long vowel sounds, and endingblending sounds, along with their respective word families. Sights andhigh frequency words can be added from there, such as colors, shapes,numbers, alphabet uppercase, lowercase letters, alphabet sounds,phonics, days of week, months of years, time, phonics, sight words, etc.Any suitable subject that can be symbolized on cards can be taught byaltering the cards 10.

As has been illustrated, each subject can be broken down insegments/group to be taught. This breaking down of complex subjectmatter into manageable color-coded sets makes it easier for children tolearn and parents to teach. With the color-coding on the backs of cards,the cards can be easily reorganized of the cards 10 are dropped orotherwise moved out of place.

Several illustrative sample game embodiments are disclosed below. Theseare representative only and it is to be understood that they are notintended, by any means, to be a complete or exhaustive list of gamesthat can be played using the cards 10 herein.

Game 1: Matching

This is basic a matching game, with wild card used as in the game ofpoker. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins. As in otherembodiments, during game set-up, all cards are placed face-up to make iteasy to provide a player assistance.

Sample Rules of the “Matching game”

Pre: Select one subject to play, take one color set from that subject tobegin.

-   -   1. Shuffle cards    -   2. Pass out 5-8 cards to each player. Place cards face-up and        facing the learner/player, for younger children, these could        fake the form of numbers, shapes, and colors cards.    -   3. Create a discard pile by taking one card and placing it face        up.    -   4. Use the rest of card to create a draw pile    -   5. A player draws. The youngest player goes first    -   6. The player tries to find a card in his/her drawn set that        matches the card showing at the top of the discard pile. The        matching may, depending upon the cards used, can be by symbol,        color, letter, or other feature of the cards.    -   7. The player, as he/she draws or discards a card, says aloud        the image, word or sound being taught when drawing or discarding        the card.    -   8. If a wild card is drawn, it can be use at any time to change        suit colors.    -   9. If a player does not have the appropriate card, that player        must draw a card from the draw pile and say the image aloud. The        player plays the card if it matches the card atop the discard        pile. If card does not match, the player keeps that card and the        next player goes.    -   10. If the draw piles run out, save top card from the discard        pile and shuffle the rest of the cards underneath it to create        more Draw cards.    -   11. The first player to get rid of all their cards win.    -   12. If a game ends with cards still in draw pile and a new game        is started, the new game should be set up and played with those        cards retained while the rest are shuffled This ensures that all        cards are played for a thorough learning experience.    -   This game is recommended 3 game per day for 5 days a week

Game 2: Sequential Order

This game is to be played with alphabet uppercase cards, lowercase cards& number cards only. There is one player only. The game is designed toteach sequential order, and assistance is allowed.

Sample rules for Sequential order:

Pre: Select a subject to be played. Select one color set from thatsubject to begin

-   -   1. The player holds the stack of card face up in hand    -   2. The player, one by ones sods each card into its own mini        color set bases on the color of the symbol on the car,    -   3. The player takes, in turn, each mini color set and places it        in order (e.g., Uppercase, set red: A, B, C, D, E). Once done,        the player says the image aloud in order. This may be repeated        moving backwards through the cards as well.    -   4. The player repeats through all the sets.

Game 3: Before or After, More or Less

The following game has some similarity to the card game “war.” Gameteaches value, placement order or vowels depending on the cards beingused. “Before or after” can be played with Number Cards or AlphabetCards. The game “More or Less” can only be played with Number Cards.Players can make or use a “cheat sheet” of notes for assistance. Thisgame is designed to be played with 2-4 players

Sample rules for Before or After, and More or Less.

Pre: Select subject to be played, and select one set or multiple colorsets from Number or Alphabet Cards.

(More or Less)

-   -   1. Pass all card out to all players until pile runs out.    -   2. All players flip one card over. Each player says aloud the        symbol on their card. Whoever has the number with More (most        value) collects all cards, and places the cards aside.    -   3. If two players have the same value card, than those two        players will go into another duel until someone wins. The winner        gets all the cards played in that round.    -   4. The game continues, and the above steps are repeated until        one player runs out of cards.    -   5. The collected cards are counted for each player. The player        with the most collected cards wins.        “Before or After” is a similar game, but involved letter cards        instead of number cards. In this game, whichever drawn letter        comes “before” the other player(s) letters is treated as higher        in value and the player with that letter wins the hand.

Game 4: Finger Trace

Finger Trace can be played with Number Cards, Alphabet Card, or ShapeCards. One or more players are required. This game teaches how to formletters, numbers and images

Sample Rules for Finger Trace:

Pre: Select a subject, and select a color set or sets;

-   -   1. Pass out cards to each player(s).    -   2. Players trace each symbol on each card as it is written.        Adults can help assist by showing children the correct way to        follow an image. This serves as a precursor to writing.

Finger Trace can be played in conjunction with other games. For example,in one embodiment.

Finger trace is used in accompaniment to the “Matching” game.

Other embodiments, wherein players or card teachers create other gamesbased on a card system 10 herein are also possible, such as, e.g.,variations of games such as “Old Maid” or “Go Fish.”

The educational card system herein can also be used to reach learnerswho have difficulty with other educational methods. Children as young as2 years old can learn from the cards, though the card system can be usedby other, older people. It can be helpful for those for whom English issecond language individuals with intellectual disabilities or birthdefects or surgery, people who lack vocal ability. Players who cannotvocalize do not have to say aloud what is on the cards, but can learn bysimply playing and listening. Listening can become a player's strength.The open plays nature of the card system allows players who lackmovement to not have to move the cards They can instruct other playersor a card teacher to do so.

The symbols, colors, and themes of the cards are not limited to anyparticular ones and may even change over time, depending on what is mosteducationally relevant for a given child or set of children. Thesymbols, colors and themes can be adjusted depending upon the child(ren)involved and their specific educational needs. For example, the game canbe tailored for children in different regions of the country, so that apriority can be placed on children learning specific symbols more thanothers, in particular prior to kindergarten. For example, cards can becreated for Native American children to learn important symbols of theirpeoples. As another example, children in the southwest united states maybe given cards with commonly-found items such as cacti, armadillos,gullies, and rattlesnakes. Such items would be more common, andimportant to learn there, while less common and of lower importance inother regions of the country.

Additionally, this system is not limited to English or even theIndo-European language family. The number of cards of the sets can beraised or lowered, as appropriate, and cards printed in anotherlanguage, to help non-speakers as well

The card game system can also be packages differently base on audience.A teacher, parent, education specialist researcher or medicalprofessional may get different packaged version base on their needs. Forexample, an educational specialist needing to work on specific lettersor shapes may get a specific set of cards tailored to that need.

It is also anticipated that that the cards may be in an electronic formor version, such as in a software/application.

It is to be understood that white certain forms of the present inventionhave been illustrated and described herein, the expression of theseindividual embodiments is for Illustrative purposes and should not beseen as a limitation upon the scope of the invention. It is to befurther understood that the invention is not to be limited to thespecific forms or arrangements of parts described and shown.

1. A method of providing an educational card system, comprising thesteps of: providing a deck of cards, and dividing the deck into at leasttwo preselected sets, wherein the front of each card of the deck has atleast one primary symbol in one of several pre-selected colors, andwherein the back of each card of the deck has a label designating whichof the at least two sets it belongs to.
 2. The method of providing aneducational card system of claim 1, wherein the label on the back ofeach card is color-coded, and further comprising the step of designatingeach card into a set by color-coding.
 3. The method of providing aneducational card system of claim 1, further comprising the step ofproviding a secondary symbol on the front of each card.
 4. The method ofproviding an educational card system of claim 3, wherein the primary andsecondary symbols are a vowel, a letter combination the vowel is a partof, a word with the vowel, or a combination thereof.
 5. The method ofproviding an educational card system of claim 1, wherein the primarysymbol is a letter.
 8. The method of providing an educational cardsystem of claim 1, wherein the primary symbol is a number.
 7. The methodof providing an educational card system of claim 1, wherein the primarysymbol is a shape or image.
 8. The method of providing an educationalcard system of claim 7, wherein the symbol is a shape, and the shape isa circle, square, or other polygonal shapes.
 9. The method of providingan educational card system of claim 1, wherein the primary symbol is avowel, a letter combination commonly the vowel is a part of, or a wordwith the vowel.
 10. The method of providing an educational card systemof claim 1, wherein the primary symbol is a blended phonic consonant, ora word containing a blended phonic consonant.
 11. The method ofproviding an educational card system of claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: having a first player draw at least two cards from a drawpile, having the first player lay down the hand of at least two cardsdown face-up, and having the first player place an initial card of thehand into a play pile, having the first or a second player select a cardthat has the same color or symbol as that of the initial card, andeither placing that card on the initial card or drawing a card from thedraw pile.
 12. The method of providing an educational card system ofclaim 11 further comprising the step of; removing the cards of all butone set, so that at least the first player is playing with cards of theone remaining set.
 13. The method of providing an educational cardsystem of claim 11, further comprising the step of: each playervocalizing the primary symbol on each card, either as it is selectedfrom the draw pile, added to the play pile, or both.
 14. The method ofproviding an educational card system of claim-1, wherein the primarysymbol is a letter, and the deck is comprised of at least two cardshaving upper case letters, and at least two cards having lower caseletters, and further comprising the step of either playing the upper andtower case letter cards simultaneously, or dividing the deck into alower case letter set and an upper case letter set and playing the setsone at a time.
 15. The method of providing an educational card system ofclaim 1, providing the additional step of: selecting and providing atleast a second deck and setting the order of play of the at least twodecks so that they are capable of being used in order combination toteach the at least first player at least two items in a cumulativemanner.
 16. The method of providing an educational card system of claim15, wherein the at least one item is at least one vowel and at least oneblended consonant set
 17. The method of providing an educational cardsystem of claim 1, providing the additional step of: adjusting theprimary symbol to the geographic region the first player is playingwithin.
 18. The method of providing an educational card system of claim1, wherein the primary symbol is in a language other than English.
 19. Amethod of providing an educational card system, comprising the steps of:providing a deck of cards, and dividing the deck into at least twopre-selected sets, wherein the front of each card of the deck has atleast one primary symbol in one of several pre-selected colors, andwherein the back of each card of the deck has a label designating whichof the at least two sets it belongs to, and placing the deck of cards inelectronic form as part of a software application.